Independently-owned center focuses on strength and community

Amy Lineberry came to The Ballet Physique feeling both mentally and physically low. She quickly lost 15 pounds and gained tone, but the biggest change was invisible.

“After I saw what it did for me - not only my body but my happiness, my marriage, my kids, my energy - eventually for me, the fitness piece became a byproduct,” said Lineberry, part owner of the fitness studio that recently opened its second site in Lone Tree. “The energy, the way you feel when you're in that space - it really makes you feel like a better person. It's infectious.”

Lineberry partners with Kristin Zurek, who opened the first Ballet Physique in Littleton three years ago. Using a ballet barre as its focal point, the 60-minute ballet fitness classes build long muscles and enhance posture. The five different formats include moves ranging from yoga- and Pilates-style stretches to aerobics and cardio sequences.

“Strong is the new skinny,” Lineberry said. “It's not so much about pounds; it's about looking good and feeling good,”

Zurek is a professional dancer who moved to Colorado from the East Coast. A certified fitness instructor with the American Council on Exercise, she developed her own style of barre class based on her love for the athleticism of ballet. In opening her own studio, she also was determined to provide clients with not only a solid workout, but a sense of community.

Zurek's downtown Littleton studio's success inspired her to open the second site on Park Meadows Drive in Lone Tree. The studio across the street from Sam's Club joins a collection of fitness studios along Park Meadows that includes yoga, Pilates and boxing among other options.

Lineberry was among her first clients.

“We care about the individual here,” she said. “We know about their families. It's important to us that they are not only getting their physical needs met. We're lifting them up, too. This is a place to be, not just a place to come.”

The Ballet Physique offers new students an introductory deal of 10 consecutive days of unlimited classes for $20.

Regular classes are available on a drop-in basis, in multi-class packages or on monthly rates.

The Lone Tree studio is at 7600 East Park Meadows Drive. For more information, visit www.theballetphysique.com.